BUDAPEST: Hungarians were set to return Prime Minister Viktor Orban to power for another four years in a parliamentary election on Sunday that was also expected to further entrench the far-right Jobbik party as a political force.
Orban, 50, has had repeated rows with the European Union and foreign investors, particularly over heavy taxes imposed on the country's mostly foreign-owned banks, telecoms and energy firms, and increased state control over the energy sector.
But many Hungarians see him as a champion of national interests and also like the fact that under his government personal income tax and household power bills have fallen.
Voting ended at 19:00 p.m. local time (17:00 GMT), though some polling stations were still open to accommodate queues of voters. The first definitive results from the official count should be available within the next few hours.
While there are no independent exit polls, a phone survey of 1,200 people on Sunday, commissioned by conservative-leaning think tank Nezopont, showed the ruling Fidesz party with 48 percent support, the Socialist-led opposition alliance on 27 percent, and Jobbik with 18 percent.
Hungary's election system would translate that into a big majority for Orban in parliament. "What Fidesz has done in the past four years, I like it a lot," said pensioner Zoltan Szabo, 67 earlier on Sunday.
"They raised my pension by 20,000 forints ($90)! What did the Socialists do? They took it away." Two questions remain: whether Orban can retain his two-thirds majority in parliament, which allows him to change the constitution, and whether Jobbik can make a late surge and overtake the leftist opposition to become the country's second biggest political force.
A good result for Jobbik, accused by critics of being anti-Semitic and stoking antipathy toward Hungary's Roma minority, could be a harbinger of how other nationalist right-wing parties perform in European Parliament elections next month.
FAR RIGHT STRENGTH:
Jobbik leader Gabor Vona told reporters as he cast his vote in the eastern Hungarian town of Gyongyos he was certain his party would surprise with its election result.
The party has pledged to create jobs, be tough on crime, renegotiate state debt and hold a referendum on EU membership. Orban has pledged to stick to his policies if reelected, continuing to cut energy prices and getting rid of foreign currency mortgages that are burdening households. Foreign banks fear this could inflict further losses.
More unpredictable policies could weigh on the forint, especially if the central bank - led by a strong ally of Orban's - cuts interest rates further from record lows, against a backdrop of jittery sentiment in global markets.
Critics say Orban has used his mandate to curb democratic checks and balances and the freedom of the media, allegations his government rejects. Some voters said they feared he was accumulating too much power.
"We had a regime change in 1989 so we don't have to put up with a one-party system any longer, and these four years looked a lot like a one-party system," Agota Guczky said in the town of Veresegyhaz just east of Budapest.
Unlike four years ago, when Hungarians voted in two rounds, Sunday's election will feature a first-past-the-post single round in 106 constituencies, with the number of lawmakers in parliament reduced sharply to 199 from 386.
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